Desperate Times
by Andorus
Summary: Ren must face his ultimate enemy alone and unprotected, while his comrades face a new and deadly enemy of their own. Rated PG for mild violence. (June 26, 2003 - the 7th and final chapter is up! I'm really sorry about the wait!)
1. Chapter 1

Rating: PG 

Disclaimer: Ren, Ioz, Tula, Niddler, the Maelstrom, Dark Water, Mer, all the interesting curse words, and everything else are © Hanna-Barbera, though they've since been bought out by Warner Bros. I'd love to say I owned this show, but alas, I don't... *sniffle* This is my first semi-decent piece of fanfic set in the Dark Water universe--I don't do much fan fiction, so if this sucks, be kind. :o) 

Author's Notes: Please comment! I thrive off feedback. Also, this is kind of a darker, more serious fic, kind of following the theme of the later episodes...I'm going to attempt more lighthearted stuff in the spirit of the middle episodes. 

Thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you. *bows* :o) 

* * * * *

"Dark Water off the port bow!" 

Ren cursed to himself and swung the wheel starboard. _I knew coming this way was a bad idea,_ he scolded himself furiously. _Why did I do it?_

"Ren!" Tula shouted from the crow's nest. "Maelstrom on the starboard stern!" 

"Dark Water starboard, too!" Ioz called, hanging onto the net as high waves battered the Wraith from both sides. "Noy Jitat, whose idea was it to come this way again, anyway?" 

_Mine,_ kept swimming through his mind. "Never mind that now," he shouted. "We've just got to try and keep this course--maybe we can outsail the Dark Water _and_ the Maelstrom!" 

A hard wave tipped the Wraith mildly and Niddler slid across the deck, bumping into the side of the ship with a squawk. "We've only been able to outrun the Maelstrom a couple of times!" he protested. 

_Then let's hope luck and Kunda are both on our side today._ He swung the wheel again, but kept it more controlled, straightening the ship out. "Niddler! Man the helm while I manage the sails!" he ordered, sprinting down the steps and across the deck to scramble up the utility nets, snagging one of the lines for the sail on his way up. Niddler replaced his place at the helm a second later, and their mildly wobbly course straightened somewhat. 

The murky sky picked that moment to explode. Thunder and lightning battled overhead while rain pounded the crew and gusts of wind nearly blew them off their feet. 

"We can't sail in weather like this!" Tula called, fighting the deafening roar of the thunder to be heard. "We have to find a port-" 

"Where, woman?" Ioz demanded. "We're in the middle of the ocean, surrounded on 3 sides by enemies--the only thing we can do is keep going forward!" 

"No, you don't understand!" Tula persisted. "I can sense that we're going deeper into the storm--and it's following the course we're taking--and if you look up at the clouds, you'll see it, too!" 

Ren did look up, and his eyes narrowed. _Noy Jitat, that is one mother of a storm._ Dark clouds were swirling, churning--and heading in the same direction they were, as if they were following the wind. _It's almost like somebody sent this wind, and that storm, and maybe even the Maelstrom and the Dark Water, to follow us. We're all heading the same way._

As if to punctuate his words, lightning struck incredibly close to the Wraith, blinding them, with thunder booming and making their ears ring in the same instant. Ren had loosened one hand from the net to rub at his eyes, and when he looked up, he gasped. "The sail's caught fire!" he shouted. And somehow, the rain wasn't putting it out. "Tula--help me trim the sails! If it stays up, the wind will just make it bigger, and it could spread to the rest of the ship!" In response, she swung herself up and over the edge of the crow's nest and started down the net towards him carefully, hanging on until the wind let up for a few seconds before she'd scurry down a few more feet. 

She finally was level with Ren. "Just say when," she greeted him tersely, tangling her feet in the net and grabbing the rope with both hands. 

Ren leaned into the net until the current gust of wind and rain let up. "Okay--_now,"_ he ordered, and as one, they pulled. 

The wind smacked them in the face halfway through, but Tula was able to grab the net with one hand and haul herself forward. Panic flooded Ren as he felt himself being pushed farther backward as he tried leaning forward, and as he tried tangling his feet in the net the same way Tula had, he felt them slip from the rungs and fall clear completely. 

Tula lifted her head as the wind died down, and her eyes widened. "Hang on!" she gasped, securing her feet again and reaching out with one hand for the rope, which dangled just out of her reach because the wind had pushed Ren and the rope outwards, as if they were a pendulum. Just as they would've begun the backwards swing, an even stronger gust caught Ren so much by surprise that he let go a hand to shield his face--and the rain-slicked rope made his other hand slip. 

_"Ren!"_

But there wasn't anything they could do. He was falling, and praying that he'd survive the fall--when he realized he had his eyes squeezed shut. He forced them open, and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and sheer terror flooded every fiber of his being as he saw not water below, but Dark Water. 

Reaching tendrils up for him. 

"Oh, no," he whispered, but the thunder tore the words from his mouth and cast them off through the wind as he plummeted headfirst into the Dark Water, submerging instantly. 

_"Ren!"_ Tula screamed, freeing her feet and leaping down to the deck. _"No!"_

It was all Ioz could do to stop Tula from leaping in after him. "Get a hold of yourself," he snarled through gritted teeth, holding her back from the side of the ship, his eyes on the spot where Ren had vanished. "We need to think-" 

"Ay Jitata, Ioz," Tula shot back, tears glimmering in her fiery eyes, _"he doesn't have the Treasures with him._ And he just fell into _Dark Water,_ and who knows what the Dark Dweller will do with him? There has to be some-" 

"If we go in, what can we do that he can't?" Ioz demanded harshly. "Whether you like it or not, Tula, he knows more about the Treasures than we do. He's got control over them. There isn't a Jitatin thing we can do with them--you know that as well as I." 

Tears were freely flowing down Tula's cheeks now. "But-" She bit back a strangled sob, her face slowly crumpling. "But--Ren-" 

Ioz's arms around Tula lightened their iron grip, and awkwardly, he held her. "Right now, we just have to concentrate on getting out of this storm, and getting away from Bloth, and then we'll figure out what to do. Ren wouldn't want us going after him--if he's even still there." 

"Don't say it," Tula whispered, slumping forward and crying hard, leaning against him. "He's got to be alive--he just--_he can't die yet!_ There's so much more we--Noy Jitat…" 

They stood there in silence for a moment. Finally, Ioz managed to look up at Niddler. "Keeping a steady course, there, monkey-bird?" he asked, to which Niddler nodded silently, not looking at him--he was mourning, too. 

The storm seemed to calm for a moment, but then it picked up with a vicious ferocity that literally drove Ioz and Tula apart, forcing them back to fighting to hold the boat together. 

* * * * *

Ren felt himself falling, falling--but sluggishly. He couldn't see anything but churning dark, couldn't breathe, couldn't move unless the Dark Water surrounding him let him move… 

_I know I'm going to die. And in vain._

The Dark Water wrenched him around suddenly, and he started seeing dancing spots from the lack of air as he tried to gasp. 

_Pure stupidity…that's what it was… _

I wish I got to tell them goodbye. I--I wish I got to tell Tula- 

And then he was free. 

He fell to the ground face-first, completely weakened, just gasping for breath and lying there, shivering for a moment. He was, amazingly enough, alive… 

After a moment, he forced his eyes open. The spots were fading--and the ground was black and a bit slimy. He was drenched, and there was a draft, which would explain his shivering, but there wasn't a droplet of Dark Water sticking to him. 

Slowly, he lifted his head, his stomach clenching with worry and a thread of icy fear. He was back in the dreary, reddish-tinged caverns that he'd been in once before, and just a couple of feet away, Dark Water lapped at the shore of a monstrous underground lake. 

It took him some time to pull himself up to his feet, as he didn't want to try leaning against anything for fear that it was malignant. Finally, when he was able to stand without falling over from dizziness, he looked around, slowly, carefully, and started to walk away from the Dark Water's edge. 

No sooner had he gotten five feet from his release point than a tendril snaked out and snagged his ankle. _"Where do you think you are going, Son of Primus?"_ a chillingly familiar voice croaked. _"You don't have your precious Treasures to protect you from me this time, now, do you?" _

Noy Jitat, Ren reflected in consternation, _he's right--I don't. They're back with the others…maybe I can settle for a cliché to keep him at bay for the time being. He seems to thrive off of those…_

Ren cleared his throat minutely. "I'll get out of here anyway--just wait and see," he replied coolly. "You won't get away with this." He fought not to wince at that. 

And sure enough, the Dark Dweller seemed to swell as soon as the words had escaped Ren's mouth. _"Are you so sure of that, Son of Primus?"_ he cackled gleefully. _"We shall see…we shall see!"_

He pulled himself even taller, completely engulfing Ren in the pitch-black shadow he cast, and moved to engulf the boy. 

But Ren was faster. He broke into a sprint sideways, trying to escape the shadow of the looming Dark Dweller, and lunged, throwing himself out of the way just barely as the form of the being vanished and torrents of Dark Water poured over the stone where Ren had been standing. 

He rolled and came to his feet, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The Dark Water moved, hesitated, then sent thick, dark tendrils out after him. 

_Chongo longo--I'm surrounded._

And surrounded he was. He had Dark Water completely blocking off his front, as it reached towards him and spread out sideways. And the farther back he moved, the closer he came to pinning himself against a sheer rock face and trapping himself completely. 

He bumped into the rock all too soon, and cursed, searching desperately for another way out, but there was none. A half-mad thought entered his mind, and he rummaged for the Compass and yanked it out. "Stay back!" he called, waving the blue-gold bauble, but in response, the Dark Water gurgled a little, expressing the amusement of the Dark Water at his foolish attempt, and oozed on. 

And then it reared, looming into the air, much as the Dark Dweller had done. And Ren saw a way out. 

He threw himself forward, sprinting, and leaped through a hole in the Dark Water, landing on a rock the Dark Water flowed _around._ From there, he took a flying leap and landed on another boulder--but then, he realized in dismay that he'd trapped himself yet again. Teasingly, Dark Water splashed up against the sides of the boulder, making him dance a little bit to dodge it and not lose his balance. 

"What do you want from me?" Ren shouted, his voice echoing into the distance. 

Suddenly, everything grew deathly silent, and eternally dark. Slowly, he turned around--and the Dark Dweller was on top of him before he could even gasp. 

A moment later, after Ren's body floated away along the molasses-like currents of Dark Water, the creature gave its answer. 

_"Your life."_

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

Rating: PG, for violence again. 

Disclaimer: (edited March 9, 2001 because I'm SUPER-picky)  
- Ren, Ioz, Tula, Niddler, the Maelstrom, Dark Water, the Dark Dweller, Mer, all the interesting curse words, and everything else are © Hanna-Barbera, though they've since been bought out by Warner Bros. The reference to Salamantha comes from PoDW comics 7-9, the rights to which are owned by Marvel Comics. I'd love to say I owned this show, but alas, I don't... *sniffle*  
- The not-so-obvious (well, they'll be obvious to die-hard fans like myself...) references to Star Wars are on purpose.  
- Dawning Light 2000 and I _are not_ plagiarizing from each other, despite the fact that our stories may seem kind of similar in some respects. :o)  
- As before, I don't do much fan fiction, so if this sucks, be kind. :o) 

Author's Notes: Same as for Chapter 1. Please comment--feedback goes a long way towards helping me out. :o)  
This entire series is going to be pretty dark. I'm hoping to bring out at least part of what I can see this series as achieving if it had been aimed at an older, more appreciative audience.  
I also want to break through some of the clichés that were perpetuated throughout, like Ren being a weak, dreaming idealist and the Dark Dweller being your typical cliché-spewing villain (though the clichés are way too fun to leave out!). So expect PG ratings across the board and don't expect Niddler to provide any comic relief here. :o) 

**Note:** CONTEST! Who wants to name the chapters of this fic? :o) If you do, the reward will be...um...getting your name listed up here. Yeah! And if you can come up with a better name than "Desperate Times" (named on the spur of the moment), please do so! All submissions can be sent [here][1]. Thanks in advance! 

Thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you. *bows* :o) 

* * * * *

Tula gasped and sat bolt upright, shivering a little bit from a mix of the chilly air and the strange, muddled not-quite-a-nightmare she'd just experienced. It took her a minute to remember--and to recognize--where she was; her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and she recognized the area below decks of the Wraith. 

And then she remembered what had happened. 

Tears stung her eyes, but she willed them away--crying wouldn't get Ren back…_if there's even a way to get him back_…and she still needed to figure out what that strange feeling making her skin crawl was. 

She emerged onto the deck, below where Ioz was steering the Wraith alone. The seas were calm, the air crisp and cool; it took her a moment to realize that the storm had calmed, but there was something about that that made her suspicious. "Ioz?" she spoke up quietly. 

He gave a start of surprise. "Awake, are you?" he replied a bit gruffly, and was about to say something else, but broke off. "The storm just vanished not too long after-" He stopped again. "After you went to sleep." 

"I think that might be why I woke up," she admitted. "I'm getting this strange feeling…I feel like it's tied to the storm, somehow." She broke off. "Where are-" 

"The Maelstrom's still behind us--though we're losing Bloth, I didn't want to try and turn around to go back for Ren until we've lost him completely." His fists clenched unconsciously around the wheel. "I don't want to give him the satisfaction of-" 

"I know," Tula said quickly. She excused herself and ducked below decks again to retrieve her blanket, and pulled it around herself to ward off the cold of the night and ascended the steps to reach the helm to give her friend some company, and silence fell over the two of them. 

Ioz gave her a sidelong glance before looking back at the wide expanse of water, the only light reflecting off it coming from a torch he'd lit behind him. "How are you?" he finally inquired. 

Tula gave him a startled look at that. "I'm--I'm okay," she stammered, confused by his apparent caring for her well--being. "Just--I'm just tired. And worried, and depressed." Before she could stop herself, it all just came spilling out. "It just--it all happened so fast--I mean, I couldn't even grab his hand, the wind was too strong. I--I can't believe that this is happening…" She felt her lower lip tremble, and let it. "I don't want to admit it, but--the chances of Ren surviving without the Treasures, when the Dark Dweller's more driven than ever to kill him-" 

Ioz knew where she was going with it, and knew he should stop her, but couldn't bring himself to do it. 

Tula exhaled sharply, and looked helplessly up at him. "Ren's dead, isn't he?" she whispered. 

Normally, Ioz would have raged at her for even considering something that audacious. He would've called her a coward, a traitor, and whatever else that would have come to mind, if it would have given him some comfort to relieve the anger, stress, and grief building up inside him. He would've taken pleasure from seeing her suffer. 

Now, he couldn't even bring himself to reply her--he didn't want to admit it himself, or admit it to himself. He _couldn't_ admit it. 

"Ay Jitata, Ioz, what are we going to do now?" she cried, not bothering to hide her tears. "How can we go on without him? He has the Compass with him, and we can't finish his Quest-" 

"Our Quest," Ioz interrupted roughly. "We took his on as our own, remember?" 

Tula shook her head, but he knew it wasn't out of disagreement. "But how can we gather the rest of the Treasures without the Compass? If Ren dies, Mer dies with him!" She choked back a sob. "And there isn't anything we can do to stop it." 

Ioz couldn't think of anything to comfort her. But worst of all, he knew deep inside that she was right. 

* * * * *

A knock sounded on the door of the cell-turned-quarters that had once belonged to Teron. "Milady, begging your pardon, but Lord Bloth would like to see you." 

A frail, pasty-skinned young woman, resembling a child, was lying spreadeagled on the bed of Andorus soil that had belonged to Teron so long ago, bathed in a milky light that made her visible despite the cloudy night blocking the moon from view. Slowly, she lifted her head enough to look at Mantus. "Can't wait?" she whispered. 

"He…" Mantus fidgeted uncomfortably. "I believe he wanted to congratulate you, and he really wanted you to answer him immediately." 

The woman's head sank back down to rest on the Andorian soil. "Must wait," she whispered. "Too…weak…" 

Mantus glanced over his shoulder nervously. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but-" 

At that, the girl's head jerked up and her eyes flew wide open, glowing a fiery red. _"Bloth will wait!"_ she snarled. _"I'm too weak to even get up, or are you too blind to see that, smool-brain?"_

Mantus jumped a mile, just barely not letting out a yelp. Quickly, he bowed and scurried off, missing the satisfied smirk on the woman's face as the dancing, fiery light faded from her eyes and she sank back into her soil again. 

Three pirates conversing over mugs of ale watched the proceedings discreetly, partially shielded by a pile of barrels, not smiling or even cracking jokes at Mantus's supposed cowardice. 

"I don't know where Bloth found that witch," the first muttered in troubled undertones, "but her presence is taking its toll on the crew, eh?" 

"Aye that," a second one agreed. "That wee lass has got such an aura as to make even Mantus cower before him-" 

"And how is Bloth not seeing any of this?" the third of the group demanded, keeping his voice quiet as not to be overheard by their unwelcome guest. "Does he possess some kind of immunity to her aura?" 

"What is she exactly, d'you reckon?" the second one inquired. "Some kind of witch, to be sure…" 

"Nay," the first one interrupted. "I've heard that she's-" He dropped his voice even lower. "A dark ecomancer. An eco-witch, to be exact." 

"Like Salamantha?" the third gasped in a hushed tone. 

"Worse than Salamantha," the first reported gravely. "Her power is none that Mer has ever seen before--and deadly if you cross her path." 

They exchanged worried glances and, as one, peered cautiously at the closed door. 

"What are you all staring at?" Mantus barked, striding across the deck to them, his previously subservient demeanor completely gone. "Get back to work, you lazy slugs!" 

They scattered at that, and Mantus turned, seeming satisfied, and strode off towards Bloth's quarters. Actually, though, he was anything but; it was all he could do to keep the worry and terseness from crossing his face. _They were probably laughing at me for acting like such a coward in front of the girl,_ crossed his mind sourly. _Well, let them laugh. None of them would dare cross her, or even go as close as I just did._

He knocked on the door twice and entered, the two-knock being Bloth's signal that it was him at the door. "She refused to come, Lord Bloth," Mantus admitted coolly. "She was very weak-" 

"Of course she was weak--she'd been using her powers to conjure up that storm on the Wraith all night, fool!" Bloth interrupted rudely, standing up from his desk where he was studying a nautical map. But then, his anger faded and a wicked smile crossed his face. "But her expenditure has been worth the effort--she's managed to kill the boy." 

Startlement crossed Mantus's angular face. "She--she what? But how, milord?" Mantus stammered, unable to believe his ears. 

"She knocked him into the Dark Water with a gust of wind powerful enough to belong to a cyclone." Bloth's smile was spreading into a full-fledged grin. "Now, don't remind me that he might not be dead, because I already know that. But it's a temporary victory--and it can only be so long before the Dark Dweller finally finds a way to kill the boy. Maybe this time he will find a way--he wants him dead as much as I do." 

Mantus's eyes narrowed. _Surely he can't be suggesting…?_ "You…aren't considering lobbying to the Dark Dweller to ally with him, are you, Lord Bloth?" he questioned cautiously. 

Bloth stared at him, surprised. "Are you mad, Mantus? Of course not!" 

"Then what exactly are you suggesting?" Mantus pressed on. "I can't help but think that you did consider that at one point, at the very least…" 

Bloth's face contorted with fury, but amazingly enough, he calmed down enough to get across a very curt reply. "If you think I'd be _stupid_ enough to ask the _Dark Dweller_ to ally with me--by the Abyss, Mantus, he wants Mer to be destroyed! He's the one common enemy that boy and I have! Suggest that again and I'll have you thrown overboard, do you understand?" 

Mantus didn't flinch. "Yes, milord," he replied smoothly, his voice low, but his skepticism still evident on his face. "If you'll excuse me…" 

He quickly left, leaving Bloth to stare after him, still stunned. 

* * * * *

Slowly, painfully, Ren came to. 

_W-what happened…? Everything's so hazy--and my body feels like it's-_

He managed to move his head enough to look down at himself, and felt his skin prickle. He was completely submerged in viscous, almost hardened Dark Water, nearly up to his chin. 

_No wonder I felt so filthy._

Experimentally, he moved his foot. It moved, but then the Dark Water lashed it back against his other foot, almost binding them together. He sighed and let his head fall back slightly, trying to get a good look at his surroundings--but he was surrounded by nothing but utter darkness, from what he could see._ Where am I? _

What did they do to me when I was out? 

He remembered the attempted escape, and the Dark Dweller rearing over him, and then everything going very cold and very, very black…and that was all. Suddenly, he felt inexplicably scared, his stomach clenching, though all he could hear were distant drips, and very faintly, a faint rushing, as if from a faraway river. He couldn't identify the source of his worries, though…it just seemed to be something subconscious, deep within him somewhere. 

The Dark Water suddenly lurched, and twisted sharply. Since it had such a tight grip on him, he had to fight not to gasp with pain as it twisted his legs one way and his torso the other, leaving him helpless to fight back in his already weakened state. 

Then it let up. 

Ren permitted himself to draw in a deep breath, hold it in, and slowly let it out, his eyes squeezed shut, not wanting to see what was doing this to him--not that he could, anyway. Then it started up again, worse than before, and kept on alternating like this, twisting his body more and more each time. Finally, he let out a hoarse cry--and it let up almost instantly. 

_"I wondered how long it would take you to scream,"_ the familiar voice echoed oddly through the cavern, tinged with delight. _"I expected you to hold out longer, Son of Primus. You disappoint me…"_

Ren's eyes were watering, he was having problems breathing evenly, and his ears were ringing so badly that he could barely hear the voice, but just the bit of it that did make it through the fog clouding his brain sent chills through him. "What did you do to me?" he gasped, his throat still raw. 

The Dark Dweller chuckled. _"Your resistance to my mind probe was considerable,"_ it remarked, _"but fear not, there will be other opportunities to extract the information I seek."_

"And what would that be?" Ren whispered fiercely, having to squeeze his eyes shut because the world that greeted him spun dangerously. 

_"I have already obtained one of several things I want from you,"_ the Dark Dweller went on conversationally, ignoring his question. _"That one was particularly easy to find."_ He smirked, then from its dark depths produced a small metallic bauble that seemed to shine of its own light. _"I believe this--er--belonged to you?"_

Ren forced his eyes open, and nearly retched just from outright shock at forcing himself to focus and at seeing what the Dark Dweller possessed. 

_No--no! Not the Compass! Noy Jitat… _

"Dark Water, do what you will," the Dark Dweller bade, and dissolved into the dark without another word. 

And the Dark Water twisted and tugged and pulled harder than it had before, but just barely not hard enough to keep Ren from passing out. Finally, when the first bones started to snap, he couldn't stop himself from screaming any longer. 

_To be continued..._

   [1]: mailto:andorus@cc.gatech.edu



	3. Chapter 3

Rating: PG 

Disclaimer: Ren, Ioz, Tula, Niddler, the Maelstrom, Dark Water, Mer, all the interesting curse words, and everything else are © Hanna-Barbera, though they've since been bought out by Warner Bros. I'd love to say I owned this show, but alas, I don't... *sniffle* I'm not a fanfic author usually, so if this sucks, be kind. :o) 

Author's Notes: Same as always. Comment, PLEASE! ;o)  
Also, the mild romantic reference at the end is...hypothetical. I don't know which way I'm going to go with it--however I do it, it ought to be interesting. *grin* 

**Contest #2:** Name the evil character who made her debut in the last segment! She's currently named Cherni, but that name kind of sucks... 

Thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you. *bows* :o) 

* * * * *

Slowly, Ren came to. The pain nearly sent him screaming into darkness, though, but he found a reserve of calm and composure within him and held onto it with all his might, biting his lip so hard he drew blood, and managed to not let out a sound. 

The Dark Water had let go of him, and he was lying on cold, hard rock; the cold seemed to creep through his skin and chill him inside as well as out, accentuating his pain dreadfully instead of numbing him. At least he wasn't in total darkness anymore, though he might've been hallucinating the dreary dark blue and violet highlights off sheer rock walls jutting up in the distance, and he thought he heard the bubbling, churning, oozing sounds of the Dark Water flowing somewhere in the distance past his very limited line of vision. 

Slowly, his brain began to function, albeit sluggishly, and he remembered what had happened to him, cringing just at the memory. 

_Should I try to look?_

The almost morbid fascination with how badly the Dark Water had mangled his body overwhelmed him, and he tried to lift his head to peek. Pain went shooting through his neck and down his back, and he let his head fall back, nauseated by the little he did see. 

_How can I get out of here if my body's so mangled?_

He couldn't answer that. 

_The Dark Dweller has the Compass now,_ he realized suddenly, sucking in a harsh breath at that. _That means--unless it does something itself to stop him, the Dark Water's unstoppable now. And all that work--has been for nothing. Absolutely nothing._

Dejection filled him, and he felt his body grow heavy as a powerful sense of failure descended on him. He let his eyes fall closed, and exhaled slowly. 

_And I'm going to die. Down here, alone…and for what? What was I able to accomplish? In the end, I failed. I'm the reason Mer's going to be destroyed--this is_ all my fault. 

_I deserve to die like this._

* * * * *

The night slowly started to fade into grey, then brilliant shades of violet and orange as the sun peeked over the horizon, sending waves of sparking light cascading over the waters. 

Tula was still awake to greet the morning sun. Her tears had stopped, but she looked old, and universally tired. Knowing they needed to get under way soon, she pulled her blanket a little closer around her, pulled up the anchor, and went to unfurl the sails. It looked to be a beautiful day, with no traces of the previous day's freak storms to be seen anywhere. 

_I almost wish the weather would be lousy--it's the least Mer can do to honor the loss of one of its greatest heroes._

She sighed. _Though I guess creating a sky as beautiful as this--Ren would want Mer to go on. But the Dark Dweller's got him, and probably has his Compass…it's only a matter of time now._

A shiver went through her at that. 

She climbed up into the crow's nest, just letting the Wraith drift on the wind for the moment, and surveyed the calm seas. Everything was placid, beautiful; there was a slight bite to the air that standing in the rising sun's rays would alleviate easily. 

Her senses started nagging at her, though, and she turned to face the sun, squinting. There was something silhouetted in the brilliant morning light… 

_Noy Jitat. The Maelstrom!_

She scrambled down to the deck, and then below, quickly waking Ioz and Niddler. They woke quickly, leading her to believe that they didn't get much sleep either, and followed her up to the deck, immediately manning different areas of the ship to get them on their way. 

The wind picked that moment to die down immediately. 

"Scupango," Ioz cursed bitterly. "Tula--can you use your powers to give us some wind?" 

Tula frowned, considering the request, then climbed back down from the nets so she could exercise her powers standing. "I'll give it a try," she replied. 

On the Maelstrom, the girl, wrapped in murky-colored robes that emanated a pale green light from the powers she was exercising, smirked, her thin but full lips curving in a sinister smile. "Perfect," she whispered, and closed her eyes to concentrate. 

Tula let her eyes flutter closed and spread her arms out to her sides. _May the wind blow away from the rising sun, she sent out into that ambiguous region only she could sense. May it blow hard enough and fast enough that it can get us away from our enemies…ocean, sunlight, lend your strength…_

And the wind started to blow. 

The girl lifted a hand almost limply, as if the wind pushing the Maelstrom along propelled it up to a horizontal position, but her hand suddenly reached out, fingers going stiff as they pointed towards the growing speck on the horizon that was the Wraith. 

"Good going, woman!" Ioz called, letting a faint smile cross his face as he piloted the Wraith on her wind. 

The girl's extended hand clenched into a fist. 

Tula gasped, her eyes flying open as the wind stopped suddenly, and as tendrils of force started to slide around her, pushing her arms and legs next to each other roughly. The same force came to her neck and stopped rising, wrapping around it, almost like a caress at first, and then squeezing, hard, choking her brutally. 

"Tula!" Niddler cried, flying over to help her, but a tendril of the force forced him back and down with almost no effort on its part at all. 

"Man the helm, monkey-bird!" Ioz ordered, horrified and thunderstruck by what was happening to her. Even all the way from the helm, he could see the impressions forming in the skin of her neck from the invisible fingers of the wind pressing mercilessly against it. 

He was at her side a moment later, trying to reach for the things choking her with her own power--she was glowing an incandescent blue all over, as compared to her usual electric-sparkle energy discharge. He couldn't get a grip, as it was wind he was trying to grasp, and it batted him away, too, but he came back and tried again. 

Somehow, he could tell that she was going blue in the face from the lack of air, and knew he had to hurry--but he was getting desperate. 

Tula was struggling, but her attempts were fewer and far between as time went on, and the lines around her eyes from having them squeezed shut in focus were slackening… 

Bloth approached the girl from a careful distance. "How is she?" he inquired. 

She turned her head ever so slightly, her focus not wavering in the slightest. "Blue in the face, with marks on her neck that she'll have for quite a while," she replied simply, and turned back to face the Wraith. 

Ioz knew she was running out of time. "Any ideas?" he called over his shoulder to Niddler, who was watching them much more than he was watching the ocean. 

"What happened?" Niddler cried in place of an answer. "Did her powers turn on her?" 

"I don't know, monkey-bird," Ioz admitted through clenched teeth. "And I don't know what to do, but we can't lose her!" 

"Don't kill her," Bloth broke in sharply. "Just scare her." 

The girl shot Bloth a look of utter disgust. "You're joking, aren't you?" she retorted sourly. "She's one of your worst enemies. Why the rafendi would you want me to keep her _alive?"_

"Her power would be better served if she became a Dark Disciple, not a dead one," Morpho added, hissing a breath. "Leave her." 

The girl hesitated. 

Tula's vision started to go black. She couldn't breathe--couldn't fight-- 

"Remember who is paying you to attack her in the first place," Bloth reminded the girl crossly. 

"But remember who's the more powerful of the two of us," the girl shot back, her eyes filled with liquid fire. 

"Lady Cherni," Bloth started to growl, but Morpho placed his tentacle-arm on Bloth's to remind him of his situation. "Fine," he spat, forcing his demeanor down. "Lady Cherni, I request that you end your attack on the wench. We will need her later on." 

_"Fine,"_ Cherni spat bitterly, snapping her arm back. 

The wind stopped. Tula let out a hoarse gasp and collapsed into Ioz's arms. 

"Is she-" Niddler whispered. 

Ioz didn't reply. He lay her down on the deck, bending over her to listen for any source of respiration or to feel a pulse. 

The glow from around Cherni vanished, and she stalked off to her quarters, wrapping her cloak around her again. "I want you to order your crew to leave me be for some time so I can recharge," Cherni snapped, flouncing into her quarters and slamming the door behind her. 

The blue glow around Tula slowly faded, and she started coughing, tears of effort sliding down her cheeks. She started to sit up, but Ioz planted his hand against her shoulder and forced her to lie down. "Not yet, woman," he replied gruffly, his voice soft. "Give yourself some time." 

Niddler abandoned the helm, not caring. "Tula!" he chirped. "Are you all right?" 

After a few moments, she managed to stop coughing, and drew a deep breath, wincing as she brushed her fingers against her throat. The purplish bruises from whatever-it-was remained. "It felt like--something made my powers turn against me," she whispered. "Teron never told me that was a possibility-" 

"Do you think Bloth had anything to do with it?" Ioz inquired as she broke into another coughing fit, her eyes falling closed as she wiped away the tears. 

"Bloth would have to be an ecomancer, or have a very powerful one with him, if it was his fault," Tula responded. Slowly, Ioz helped her sit up, and she forced her eyes open. "Thank you for trying to help me," she added earnestly. 

He mumbled something noncommittal under his breath in response. "You need to rest now," he replied instead. "Niddler and I will get us as far as we can--it seems that there's a pretty good natural wind forming now." And indeed there was; the sails were filling, and the boat was drifting with them. 

Ioz helped Tula to her feet, slinging her arm across his shoulders and looping an arm around her to walk her down to the cots below decks. He emerged a few minutes later and took the helm from Niddler, giving him a couple of gruff but still-quiet commands. 

_He didn't yell at me the way he usually would,_ Niddler couldn't help but muse to himself. _I wonder what's bringing on this change of behavior? He isn't blaming himself for what happened, is he?_

Another thought made him quickly turn so Ioz couldn't see his expression and pound him for it later on. _Maybe he's going soft? Maybe he's actually got a thing for Tula?_ He chuckled to himself. _It's a definite possibility…_

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

Rating: Um...I guess PG. The whole Ren-Serril thing wasn't anything really bad, I don't think...if you disagree, comment and let me know, please, and I'll up it to PG-13. :o) 

Disclaimer: Pirates of Dark Water belongs to Hanna-Barbera, which now belongs to Warner Bros. Much as I'd love to claim that I own part of this show, I sadly can't. Salamantha is a character from the Marvel Comics 3-issue Pirates of Dark Water run (issues 7-9), which was written by David Kirschner and company. There are probably a few more subtle Star Wars references in here that I threw in without realizing it--if so, they're copyright George Lucas and Lucasfilm, Ltd. Cherni and Serril are my original characters. 

Author's Notes: The 4th chapter's finally up! I finally have an idea of where I want to take this...and I'm taking summer classes at my school now, but have no Friday classes--so MAYBE I can get a chapter written a week. (I have no idea how long this is going to go, though.) No guarantees, but I'll do it if I can! 

* * * * *

Some time later, Tula roused herself to wakefulness. She yawned, and then winced as pain coursed through her throat and neck, actually crying out when she brushed her fingers against the tender, bruised skin. With the pain came memories, and she shivered uncontrollably for a long moment. 

_A dark ecomancer._

That had to be what it was. The feel of the power that had nearly overwhelmed her was purely natural--as in, involving nature's touch. And she knew that it was wind that had seemingly formed that giant hand that choked her brutally, but that there was a hand behind that of the wind--a human hand. 

As far as she knew, ecomancers were human; Andorus's population consisted predominantly of humans, and only humans showed the ability to generate the "elemental touch," as Teron had put it so long ago. But other than Teron and herself, and Salamantha, the feared eco-witch, as far as she knew, no other people capable of ecomancy existed on Mer. 

_So who was behind the attack? It couldn't have been Salamantha; I'd have recognized her ecomantic signature in a heartbeat, and she didn't have any of her little "special effects" she loves so much, like the flower petals or her slaughtermen..._

Another thought chilled her to the bone. _Salamantha tried to seduce Ren, to make him do her bidding...what if she seduced other men, to the point of--_

_Could my attacker be one of Salamantha's_--children? 

Just the prospect of a power-hungry witch like that having children made her shudder. But it was a definite possibility; she could very well have mothered illegitimate children on her quest for power and discarded them like they were nothing, the way she discarded her men when she was through with them. Because they indeed were nothing to her, nothing but stepping-stones for her to gain even more power and make her more feared across the twenty seas. 

_But if whoever-this-is happens to be one of her children...he or she would be really bitter, for one thing, about having a mother who just doesn't care and who's just cast father and child off...and when the gift started to develop, the father, already realizing what a curse having a child who has Salamantha for a mother is, would probably have given up the child immediately, not wanting to claim ownership of a neo-Salamantha. So the child probably would've used his or her powers to fuel reactions of anger or hate..._

_This world doesn't need another Salamantha--if that's even the case._

She knew she had to get up and tell the others, and finally convinced herself to untangle herself from the sheet and step up onto the deck. It was midmorning; the sun was relatively high in the sky but obscured behind benign-looking clouds. 

Ioz and Niddler gave starts of surprise as they noticed her. "How are you feeling?" Niddler queried, coming over to help her over to the supply barrels to get some breakfast. 

Tula managed a wan smile. "I'm all right," she replied, then winced; she didn't realize it hurt her to talk as well. 

Niddler noticed Ioz glancing at them out of the corner of his eye; the pirate looked as if he wanted to relay something to Tula, but wasn't sure exactly how to phrase his words. "I think you should go back to sleep," he suggested. 

Tula flinched at that, and turned and glared at him. "Thanks for your vote of confidence, Ioz," she shot back heatedly. 

He bit back an automatic retort. "I meant that you look like you could use some more rest," he amended hastily. "After what you went through yesterday, I'm surprised you're on your feet." 

Surprise was evident on her face, but it quickly melted into mild embarrassment and regret, and she apologized. "I'm okay, really, though," she insisted. "But--thanks." 

Ioz's eyebrows shot up, but he hid his mild confusion by ducking his head and mumbling something. Tula blinked and suppressed a mildly frustrated sigh before turning back to the supply barrels. 

Niddler watched the proceedings with more than a little bit of amusement at it all. He wisely kept his beak shut, though, knowing that if he dared to open it, one of the two fiery tempers aboard the ship would snap. 

* * * * *

He had no idea how long he'd been lying there, broken and bloodied and battered seemingly beyond repair…it could've been minutes, hours, days, weeks--he had no way of knowing. All he could know and recognize was the neverending buzz of pain coursing through his limbs… 

…and the irrepressible guilt that came with the knowledge that he'd lost, and that his world was going to die. 

A lump formed in his throat, and stuck there despite his best efforts to push it away; he finally gave up, and weakly let the tears fall and the dejected, self-berating thoughts flood his mind, driving him deeper into his funk. 

He suddenly felt very small, and very alone. And very, very cold. 

A soft sound caught his attention, but he ignored it, figuring that it was the Dark Dweller goading him somehow. He heard it again--the skittering of pebbles as something brushed them past. It was coming closer--and then a soft _pat-pat-pat_ accompanied them, and he recognized them as footsteps. 

Footsteps? 

_No,_ he reasoned quickly. _It's the Dark Dweller playing games with my mind. The way he did when he pretended to be my father the first time._

The steps faltered, as if the being that created them could sense his thoughts, but then continued forward, almost determinedly. 

Finally, as the person stepped around Ren to his other side, looking down at him with a mix of concern and nervousness, he finally got a good look at his visitor. 

She was a young girl, pale, small-built, with straw-blonde hair about the color of his, but skin much paler, as if she hadn't seen the light of day for most of her life. Her eyes were a bright green, though, and full of life, full of hopes and dreams that she seemed to stubbornly hold on to despite her surroundings. The rest of her proved the futility of those hopes-she was in dirty, tattered clothing, basically rags, and had smudges of dirt on her bare arms and legs. 

She was staring down at Ren with those wide emerald eyes, and as he stared back blandly, his eyes locked onto hers--and he couldn't look away. 

He flailed around a bit mentally, wondering what was happening-but she quickly motioned for him to be silent and knelt over him, touching a finger to his lips to ensure that he'd comply with her wishes. 

She then drew a deep breath, touched her hands to his face, and leaned forward and kissed his mouth gently. 

Ren's eyes widened as startlement froze him in place for an instant, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't pull away… 

…and then the rawness in his throat and the pain pounding at his face vanished as she pulled away and regarded him hopefully. It was then that he understood what it was about her eyes--he'd seen that same glow in Tula's eyes before, when she was focusing her inner energies. 

"Who are you?" he blurted in a whisper before he could stop himself. She couldn't be an ecomancer… 

"I'm an unwanted guest of the Dark Dweller," she whispered back, looking around hurriedly to make sure that nothing threatening was in sight before looking down at him. "He doesn't know that I'm here. You're the Son of Primus, aren't you?" She noticed his startled expression and took that as an affirmation. "I've heard of you," she went on, a look of reverence crossing her face. "And I never thought you'd come as far as you have. My name's Serril." 

"Serril," he repeated, letting the name roll off his tongue as he mulled over her words for a moment. "Thank you for-" 

"Shh," she whispered quickly, the reverence fading and doctorly concern crossing her face. "I'm not done yet." 

Ren felt his face growing hot as he wondered what else she'd have to do to heal the rest of him. Serril blushed, seeing his train of thinking, and quickly shook her head. "Don't worry," she assured him gently. "Nothing like that." 

He breathed a slight sigh of relief. 

"But what I probably will have to do will hurt," she went on, musing. "I've never had to heal anybody in as bad shape as you are." 

Ren grimaced, but shoved his discomfort aside. "What do you have to do, then?" he inquired. "I don't want you to suffer," she explained quietly, "and it's important to everybody that you get out of here as fast as possible--but I need physical contact with what I heal." 

She fell silent for a moment and stared off into space, shooting him slow, long, speculative looks now and then, and Ren couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious as her eyes trailed across him, taking in the damage she'd have to repair. But finally, she nodded, and reached for his temples. "I'm going to put you in a slight trance," she informed him. "You should miss the worst of it, then. Okay?" 

"Okay," he relented, willing to try whatever she had to offer. 

She smiled, her expression warming the green of her eyes, and Ren seemed to feel a bit of warmth entering him through her gaze for a moment. But before he could try and figure out exactly what it was that he'd felt, before he could smile back, he felt the pressure of her hands against his temples, and the warmth they exuded, along with a simple yet profound sense of security and safety that he'd been striving to find for so long, and that warmth lulled him back to sleep. 

Some time later, he came to, but felt strangely heavy. As his vision came to him, he was startled to feel a slight tickle against his cheek, and realized that it was a lock of that girl's hair. 

That girl--Serril. 

He then realized, flushing yet again, that she was lying on top of him, arm against arm, leg against leg, her head cradled against his neck and shoulder, and exuding a faint yet warm light, and that light was penetrating his body, searching out his injuries, cleansing them, setting them properly, and healing them. But instead of hurting, he merely felt a dull ache from the effort. 

He used the time to think--and felt clear-headed for the first time in a very long while. The despondence was gone, and a new determination to succeed had replaced it, as well as some of the hope that he'd thought he'd lost permanently upon realizing that the key to Mer's future, the key to finding the Treasures, was in the Dark Dweller's possession. But he just suddenly had this feeling that he'd get it back, and that he'd win this battle, the way they always did, by some twist of fate. They had to win--they were meant to win. 

Some time later, Serril came out of her self-induced trance and lifted her head slightly, trying to determine her surroundings. She then looked down at Ren, and smiled a little, though her eyelids were drooping from obvious exhaustion. "It's finished," she whispered, making a clear attempt not to slur the words. "Go save our world, Son of Primus." 

And with that, she collapsed limply on top of him, feeling, to him, much lighter than she had a moment ago. 

* * * * *

Lying on her bed of Andorian soil, shivering slightly, Cherni was immersed deeply in a dream more vivid than any she had ever experienced before. 

_Adventures--out on the high seas--her papa, lil' sis, and her… _

"Papa, what's that black thing on the water?" 

Papa looking, not recognizing it… 

Their ship suddenly being rocked violently and then twisted, turned over, and pulled apart, dumping them all overboard… 

Lil' sis's scream as she vanished into the black substance… 

Papa nowhere to be seen… 

Lost… 

Frightened… 

Alone… 

_"No!"_

She came awake all at once, clawing the sheet away from her and gasping for breath, an irrational fear threading its way through her. It was that dream again…she hadn't had it for years. But why now? 

She knew that it was true, and that it had happened far in her past…and she also knew that the moment in that dream was her family witnessing the birth of the Year of the Black Tide--when the Dark Water finally came to the surface for the first time in the Northern Seas and began its years of terror. 

And that was precisely the reason where she was now. Working for Bloth as a common mercenary--but far from common--to kill the Son of Primus's crewmates and steal the Treasures from them… 

…only for _her_ to steal them from Bloth. 

She would indeed have her revenge against the Dark Water for selecting her family- 

-no. Her _sister_ and the man they called their father- 

-to be its first victims. 

Even if it cost her life doing so. 

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

Rating: PG 

Disclaimer: Ren, Ioz, Tula, Niddler, the Dark Dweller, Avagon, Octopon, and all of that belong to the now-no-more Hanna-Barbera studios. Serril's my own original creation. 

Author's Notes: Yeah, there's some discrepancy in here between this and the...second? Third? segment (re. the Compass)--but I'll explain it next week. ;o) I AM trying to make this a weekly thing now...so expect the next segment next Friday or Saturday (June 22-23, 2001). 

Thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you. *bows* :o) 

* * * * *

"So," Niddler finally ventured after some time, during which they'd all sailed and tended to their duties in near-silence. "Where do we go now?" 

Ioz and Tula looked up at that, and exchanged a look. "We-" Tula's voice, still hoarse, faltered slightly. "We need to see if there's any way to find Ren." She hesitated, then went on. "And then--if worst comes to worst--we need to figure out how to get the Compass back, and figure out what whatever it was that attacked me was, not just for me--but because it could hurt other people, too." 

"It seems to me like your attacker's the most immediate threat," Ioz put in gravely. Tula turned to look at him, surprise crossing her face. "If we've lost Ren, we can't thin our ranks further." 

Tula's surprise melted and she looked away, a slight flush coming to her face and her expression faltering further. 

"Whoever it was--it seems to be coming from the Maelstrom," Niddler put in tentatively. "Bloth's been behind us ever since this all started." 

"You're right," Tula replied in wonder after a moment. "You're absolutely right, Niddler. And-" She broke off, an odd look crossing her face. "It was an incredibly strong gust of wind that blew Ren overboard." 

Ioz was the first to break the stunned silence that followed. "Scupango," he snarled. "By the blood of Ren-" He instantly broke off, and a look of defeat crossed his face. 

"Don't, Ioz," Tula murmured. "We--we don't know. It's going to happen. But--we _are_ going to pay him back for this," she added vehemently, wincing as her voice cracked painfully. 

Ioz lifted his head warily and regarded her silently for a moment. "You're right," he agreed quietly. "Whatever Bloth is up to now--he shall pay dearly for it." 

Tula stepped towards him and put her hand over his, squeezing it slightly and surprising all three of them. "For Ren," she stated simply, and Ioz instantly understood. 

Niddler stepped forward and put his hand over theirs. "For Ren," he agreed, and together, they raised their clasped hands high in their silent vow. 

* * * * *

With a note of finality, Ren roused himself to full wakefulness. He'd been asleep on and off since Serril had used her powers to heal him--and every time he'd managed to open his eyes, she was still lying next to him--where he'd managed to carefully deposit her after she'd collapsed--completely unconscious and oblivious to her surroundings. 

As his eyes fell on her again, he felt himself growing a bit speculative--about her, her background, how she came to be here, and what he could do to get her out. He couldn't just leave her there where she could die any minute if the Dark Dweller knew about her. He had to find a way to bring her with him, back to the surface… 

…after how many years of being trapped there, though? 

Much had changed on the surface thanks to the Dark Water, Octopon probably being the most extreme case. He wondered how much it all had changed since the start of the Year of the Black Tide, and how much of it he'd taken for granted and would realize as truly being different from her reaction to all of it. 

He also started to think about where she'd come from…her pale skin obviously meant that it had been many years since she'd seen the sun. Her features didn't say much to point to what area of Mer she might have originated from, nor did her clothing. What really made him wonder, though, were her eyes…he'd never seen eyes quite that deep emerald before. They seemed to hold a power of their own, mesmerizing whoever looked into them with the intense, direct gaze they returned… 

…or maybe it was just him? 

He flushed slightly, wondering where that thought had come from. 

Not much later, her eyelids fluttered and she shifted a little bit as consciousness started to return to her. Carefully, she lifted her head and opened her eyes, and Ren smiled a bit, at least in relief, at seeing her eyes widen at the sight of him awake. "Are you okay?" they both inquired at the same time, and chuckled a bit weakly. Ren raised his eyebrows, though, as a sign for her to reply first, and she took it. "I'm fine," she replied quickly. "But how are you? Are you in any pain?" 

"I'm okay," he assured her, meaning it fully, and let his smile cross his face, this time full of gratefulness. "Thanks--thanks a lot." 

She smiled back, her face lighting up, but didn't say anything--so Ren decided to. 

"I have to ask you," he began, as they slowly climbed to their feet, Ren moving gingerly just in case, and helping each other up. "Where did you come from? How did you end up here, and how long have you been here?" 

Her smile faded, and Ren inwardly braced himself. "I suppose it does no harm to tell you," she finally conceded. "I'm from Octopon originally; I'm probably just a couple of years your senior." He nodded, mildly surprised that she was indeed older, despite being smaller-built. "My father, big sister, and I were sailing one day, about seventeen or so years ago, maybe a bit more--when we saw this black thing on the water. We had no idea what it was, and before we knew it, it tore our ship apart, and when I fell overboard, it dragged me under. I never found out what happened to my father or my sister." She hesitated. "It turned out that we were the first victims of the Dark Water--we'd witnessed the beginning of the Year of the Black Tide." Ren's eyes widened involuntarily. "I've never seen the Dark Dweller in all the time I've been here, not even once," she went on. "And I can't explain it. I think something about my power is cloaking me from him--or that when he sent the Dark Water out at the very beginning, it grabbed so much debris and other things floating in the water that he just disregarded all of it, including me." She trailed off and shook her head helplessly, and lapsed into silence for a moment. "You don't know how much I've longed to see the sun again, and the twin moons," she remarked helplessly, finally, turning to regard him with those eyes filled with an immense sadness that moved him to the core. "And the sea, and the land, and-" She drew in a shuddering breath. "And _people._ Real, living ones, full of life and not the fear of death that just completely takes them over when they come here. Though--there was this woman--she was an older woman, but she was so brave, ready to hold on to life as long as she could-" 

Ren blinked. "An older woman?" he repeated. "Did she have white hair and lavendar clothes?" Serril peered at him in surprise. "You know her, then?" she inquired curiously. 

He felt something lurch inside of him. "Her name was Avagon," he informed her soberly. "And she was one of my father's best friends and one of his seven captains when he originally started on the quest, years ago." 

Her eyes widened, her mouth forming an O at his words. 

He knew he didn't want to know, and that he shouldn't ask, but at the same time, he felt that he had to. 

"How did she die?" he asked. 

Sympathy and worry crossed her face once more. "Ren, I-" 

"Please, Serril," he interrupted her, gently but firmly. "I just--I have to know." 

She drew in a breath and exhaled before speaking. "She fought till the end," she explained softly. "She wasn't afraid, not for a moment. But he knew who she was, and what she was trying to do--and she kept saying this one phrase over again and again, like an incantation-" She broke off, pursing her lips in thought. "What was it?" 

"Always the Quest," Ren supplied weakly, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. 

Her eyes lit up. "That's it," she agreed, and sobered. "But--I don't know if I should go on. It's--it's not pretty." 

"Serril, none of what I've seen in the past year has exactly been 'pretty,'" Ren informed her, a bit sharply; he realized it too late, and the hurt in her eyes made him flush with shame, and he quickly apologized. She accepted it and went on. 

"I know that you know this is called the Chamber of Lost Souls. But do you know why?" 

He shook his head. 

"The Dark Dweller thrives on the souls of those who've passed before him," she explained. "So he'll drain the life-energies from his victims. If he's in a weakened state, he'll do it quickly, within several hours, and it'll be relatively painless for the person. But--if he-" She swallowed. "If he wants to make them suffer-" 

She sighed again, dropping her eyes. 

"Ren-" 

He reached forward and touched her shoulder gently, to provide her with some support. She squeezed her eyes shut and raised a hand up to touch his, threading her fingers beneath his and tightening her grip on his hand. 

"Ren, it took her three months to die." 

She lifted her eyes to meet his then. 

He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe that anybody could be made to suffer like that, to have their life pulled painfully from themselves and then have it dangled in front of their faces like a toy just out of a baby's reach. A taste of wet ash entered his mouth, and his insides wrenched, painfully, at the memory. 

She was a strong woman--probably the strongest he'd ever met--and he knew that the Dark Dweller did what he could to make sure she lost her honor while dying. 

Serril broke into his reverie gently. "She didn't utter a sound, though," she added. "She wouldn't let herself scream--she couldn't give him the pleasure." 

That was some gratification, then. 

But not much. 

_"Three months?"_ he repeated, his throat choked, his voice nothing but an incredulous whisper. 

Her eyes were locked on his now, and she sensed him falter before he did, and quickly stepped forward, taking him into her arms and holding him close, hugging and clinging to him tightly. 

A moment later, he became of this and slowly brought his hands up to her back, and let his head sag against her shoulder. 

_Three months._

He was trembling slightly…it was just… 

He had to put a stop to this. He had to avenge her death, and the deaths of all those who fell before and after her. 

"I'm going to get you out of here," he muttered, his voice thick enough to obscure his words. 

Serril shifted slightly to look at him questioningly. 

"I said, I'm going to get you out of here," he repeated quietly, meeting her eyes, his vow flaring inside of him and filling him with some strength. "I can't let you stay here. If there's a way to get you back home, I'll do it." 

She drew in a sharp breath at that, and tears filled her eyes. "Ren-" She broke off. "This is my home. My father and sister are probably dead--they might've died 17 years ago, they might've died yesterday--and--so much will have changed, that--I just don't know--I'd love to go back, but it all just seems like a dream that'll never happen-" 

"It'll be all right," he assured her gently. "Really. I'll take you back to Octopon, and take ca-" He quickly interrupted himself. "Leave you in good hands." 

She noticed the slip and raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything further. "I'm still not sure," she murmured, and then blinked and blushed, embarrassment crossing her face. "What am I saying?" she breathed. "I must sound so rude--I'm so sorry." 

He shook his head and smiled. "It's okay, really," he insisted. "But--do you want to go home? I mean, your _true_ home," he amended. "Nobody can live here happily." 

He could almost see what she was thinking--seeing the sun, moons, the sea, the land, and people… 

"You don't belong here," he pressed. "What if the Dark Dweller finds you? What'll he do to you then?" 

"But-" She regarded him worriedly. "My powers-" 

That stopped him. "What about them?" he replied curiously. 

Pain filled her eyes. "I was always--I was seen as a freak when I was little," she admitted tiredly. "I don't want to go through all that pain again. It's been so long--I've been so alone--I just wouldn't know how to handle it…" 

"I'll help you," he replied instantly. "It's different now. You have the power to heal--that's a gift, not a curse." 

She hesitated, bit her lip…and nodded. 

"All right," she relented, and smiled faintly. "If there's a way for you to bring me to the surface--bring me home-" 

"It's the least I can do for what you've done for me," he said simply, and smiled back. But then something made the hair on the back of his neck prickle and stand on end, and he spun around, stepping in front of her just in case. 

The Dark Dweller himself entered the cavern, melting out of the darkness surrounding them. _"How can this be?"_ he wheezed upon seeing Ren standing, completely healed, glaring back at him. _"You should be broken beyond repair!"_

And then he caught sight of Serril. 

_"What do we have here?"_ he went on--and sent out tendrils of Dark Water lashing towards them to grab and separate them. 

Ren spun, grabbed Serril, and held onto her as separate masses of the substance wrapped around each of them, trying to pull them apart. But their pull was too great, and she was torn from his grasp and pulled back just far enough that even if both of them had stretched as far as they could, they just barely wouldn't be able to reach each other. 

_"So, my dear, how long did you expect to go unnoticed?"_ the Dark Dweller demanded, a slow grin crossing its "face." _"Your powers may have been good enough to hide you from me all this time, but your power is enough to sustain me longer than any of these mortals." _

Mortals? 

"But perhaps we can arrange a deal," the Dweller went on conversationally. _"You agree to stay here, and let me drain some of your energy--and I shall let you live on, and not drain your life-energies."_

He saw her expression harden. "No," she spat hoarsely. "Never." 

Ren struggled against the Dark Water a bit, but it wasn't giving. 

And then he saw it. 

_The Compass._

The Dark Dweller was wearing it, a small speck of light against his dark mass. He didn't notice Ren focusing in on it, wondering if it would react to his presence somehow, to his will--the way it had on Pandawa, when he'd broken free of the ropes Jargus had tied him up to. And for a moment, it did nothing. But then… 

The Dark Dweller belatedly realized what Ren was doing as the Compass started to hum softly--and then shot out a beam of light at the Dark Water surrounding him. Ren was astounded to see it dissolve into the purplish foam he recognized from using the Treasures on it, but didn't waste time thinking about it. As it fell, he sprinted across the space to Serril and grabbed her arms, trying to yank her out with strength he didn't know he possessed. 

And then the Compass started to glow. 

The Dark Dweller let out a scream as it started to act upon him, and then it fell free. Ren let go of Serril long enough to lunge and grab it before the Dark Water could--and then it shot off another shaft of light, freeing her from her bonds as well. "Come on!" he ordered, looping it around his neck again, and grabbed her arm, and they sprinted in the opposite direction from the Dweller. 

_"You shall never escape here alive,"_ it managed to snarl after them. 

"We'll see about that!" Ren shouted back, but this time, he didn't care about clichés. 

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

Rating: PG (some violence, really brief nudity, only mentioned with the word "nude" though...) 

Disclaimer: Ren, Ioz, Tula, Niddler, Bloth, Mantus, and all of that belong to the now-no-more Hanna-Barbera studios. Serril and Cherni are my own original creations. 

Author's Notes: Major apologies for the HUGE delay...I wrote this when putting off studying for finals a few weeks ago, and when I tried to upload it, FF.net was having issues accepting it. ^^; And I've decided to stay with the name Cherni--it's kind of grown on me. *grins* I'll try to be better about continuing from now on. No promises (since I TOTALLY broke the last ones, in terms of time and explaining the Compass thing ^^; ) but I'll try.  
I also need to thank Luna for giving me the idea of the duel--that never crossed my mind. Thanks so much! :o) 

And as always, thanks for reading (and hopefully reviewing), and may the Force be with you. *bows* :o) 

* * * * *

Mid-afternoon. 

The Maelstrom was drifting lazily along the waves, a light and warm breeze pushing it on its way. This breeze, combined with the warmth in the air, lulled all those who spent much time topside into a slight doze before long. 

And Ioz, Tula, and Niddler intended to use that lull to their advantage. 

Tula had been exercising a bit of her powers to form a slight cloud of fog to conceal the Wraith from view--it would be enough to keep it unseen from casually roving eyes, which was all they needed. 

She frowned a bit more suddenly, and Ioz glanced at her, hoping that it wasn't another attack on her. Instead, she opened her eyes a moment later, a bluish-green color dancing within them as she let her powers work subconsciously. "There's no Dark Water anywhere nearby," she declared quietly. "We're good to go." 

"All right," Ioz agreed, and handed her one of the two amphecytes in his hands. Behind him, Niddler was squirming as he pulled the rubbery sea creature over his beak, and wordlessly, the two humans exchanged a look and pulled theirs over their faces as well. They slipped silently into the calm water shortly thereafter. 

Before long, they were clambering up the wood paneling and leviathan's skeleton that formed the outer covering of Bloth's flagship, and sure enough, there were several pirates lounging at their side of the ship. However, unlike last time, when they were grumbling about dagron duty, this time they were speaking in more hushed tones of voices, not nearly as relaxed as before. But the three were still able to grab them and take their places seemingly in the blink of an eye. 

They split up, so as not to attract too much attention to themselves. Tula headed forward, while Ioz headed aft, and Niddler took to guarding a barrel of goija, keeping an eye on the central area of the ship. 

The amount of goija decreased faster than Niddler would have liked, and he spared a quick moment to duck his head into the barrel to help him sight another small fish to munch on. But as he emerged, a dark shadow loomed over him, and before he could even let out a squawk of terror or begin to identify his attacker, something heavy impacted painfully with his head, and he knew no more. 

Ioz lurked in the shadows, torn between striding nonchalantly as if he were a crewman on the Maelstrom again and sneaking about so as not to be seen. As he crept around a corner, he was glad he'd snuck, because Bloth and Mantus were engaged deep in conversation, their backs to him. Their postures, amazingly enough, indicated that all was not well, and that both were troubled about something. 

And that made Ioz wonder. First the pirates, now the captain and his commander--what could be bad enough to make them all so worried? 

Ioz crept another step, but the board creaked under his feet. 

Bloth and Mantus spun around, but Ioz had sprinted back around the corner--silently--just in time. 

He made his way towards the door of the quarters that used to be Teron's, and glanced inside, wondering what was left-- 

His eyes widened, horrified as the jarring realization struck him of what lay inside and on Teron's old bed of soil, and he quickly withdrew from the window, but not quickly enough. 

The girl who had been in a trance on the bed--an _ecomantic_ trance--her eyes snapped open, the milky white light bathing her nude body disappearing. She called her robe to her, and it wrapped around her in an instant as she stood, and with the wave of a hand, her door flew open and she stalked purposefully outside. 

The pirates stopped what they were doing, stared, cowered back into the shadows and out of the girl's notice as best as they could. But she wanted nothing to do with them. She knew where her quarry was. 

He was running, ducking for cover, but with another wave of her hand, a gust of wind shoved the barrels aside, and he had nowhere to run. He glanced around wildly, but there were no other options, so he went for his sword. 

A smile crossed her face. She ripped the sword from his hands, levitated it in front of him as she stalked towards him, turned it so that the blade faced him, and sent it falling. 

He let out a strangled cry and fell, a slash across his mostly bare torso leaking blood that pooled around his mostly still form. He still struggled to cling to consciousness, albeit weakly, sluggishly. 

She loomed over him. "The monkey-bird was your friend, I'll wager?" she questioned. "Well, I've already dealt with him." She hesitated, and took a good look at his face. "Handsome, but an idiot," she added as an afterthought. 

She kicked the side of his head, hard, and motioned to the nearest set of pirates to take him to where they'd taken the monkey-bird and to tie the man up. 

She still had one more--the one she was the most excited about finding. The girl. The ecomancer. 

* * * * *

"Ren, stop--" Serril gasped, completely winded, tugging on his arm. "I--can't go any further--" 

He stopped, turned, grabbed her shoulders. "We just need to find a hiding place," he insisted hurriedly but softly. "It's not much further, I promise." 

She shook her head, and her knees buckled, and he knelt, still supporting her, and gave her a moment to catch her breath. "I haven't--run this much in at least ten years," she whispered. "Never--been as scared as this--didn't know he would ever find me--" 

Her head snapped up, her eyes intense and flooding with tears. "Leave me," she whispered. "Holding you back." 

He shook his head quickly, emphatically. "No," he insisted. "We're getting out of here." 

She shook her head. "Too slow," she breathed. "More important for you to leave--survive. I'll--be all right--" 

"Look," Ren replied, in a tone that would allow no contradiction, "I promised you I'd get you out of here and back to Octopon, and by Kunda, I'm not going to break that promise. All right?" She didn't respond. "All right?" 

A tear slid down her cheek, and she nodded. He smiled briefly, trying to comfort her, and quickly brushed the tear from her cheek. "We'll be all right," he whispered, pulling her towards him in a gentle and quick hug. "We'll get out. I've done it before, I can do it again." 

As he spoke, he realized he honestly had no idea if he could do it again, but forced that thought out of his mind. No. He had to find a way. 

A few moments later, they started moving again. 

* * * * *

Tula ducked behind several crates as a couple of pirates passed her hiding place, carrying-- 

_Niddler._

Her eyes widened, and it was all she could do to remain completely motionless and still as she watched where they carried his still form. It was to the main mast, more aft, where they tied him up by his wrists and tied another rope around his torso to hold him up. She cringed at their rough treatment of him, their shoving him around and tying him up so roughly, and felt a surge of anger within her at their obvious derision towards him. 

Her senses flashed, and she ducked again, and when she slowly lifted her head-- 

Her stomach lurched. 

Several men were carrying Ioz to the mast to tie up next to Niddler. From what she could see, as it was some distance away, he'd been cut somehow, across his stomach, and there was an ugly bruise along the right side of his face. He was unconscious as well, and they gave him the same treatment, tying him up by his wrists and tying another rope around him--not caring if it crossed his diagonal wound, which it did, and they made sure to tie it tight. She felt her stomach flip-flop at how much pain pressing a rough piece of rope into an open wound like that must cause. 

And suddenly, as she stretched outwards with her senses as much as she could, she suddenly realized why they had them tied up like that, a moment before the reason openly presented itself. Or rather, herself. 

A very pale, very frail girl wrapped in robes clinging almost seductively to her frame stepped casually into plain view of Tula--as if she knew the ecomancer was watching. Tula also didn't fail to notice the pirates who had tied her friends up were rapidly making their distance from this girl. It sealed her suspicions, as did the resonances. 

This was her attacker. This was also the daughter of Salamantha. Being closer to her helped Tula to pinpoint nuances of her ecomantic aura--and it was definitely there. 

Salamantha's offspring. 

She shivered involuntarily. 

The girl was surveying her surrounding area--a predator attempting to locate her prey, Tula noted wryly but warily. Her eyes skimmed over the crates Tula was kneeling behind, moved on, froze, darted back. 

The pirates noted her sudden interest in the pile, and their attention turned that way as well, but none of them moved towards Tula, not even Bloth and Mantus, who Tula realized were standing at the starboard aft end of the ship, surveying the situation silently--respectfully. They had no intentions of standing in this girl's way--they knew exactly what she was capable of. 

Tula knew she had no other choice. It was all up to her now. 

She drew a deep breath to steady her nerves, her racing heart, to calm her churning stomach, and stood, brushing herself off, flipping her hair over her shoulder and out of her way, and strode forward to confront the eco-witch. 

_To be continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

Rating: PG-13   
  
Disclaimer: Ren, Ioz, Tula, Niddler, the Wraith, the Maelstrom, Bloth, the constrictus, all his pirates, the Dark Water, the Dark Dweller, Octopon, Mer, even the goija--they're all HB/WB's property. The main things that are mine are Serril and Cherni, and the, er, "new addition" at the end.   
  
Author's Notes: Same as always; comments are totally welcome.  
I don't really know at what point in the quest this story takes place (except that it's obviously after the end of the series, and it's a bit further along afterwards, without being at the very end). I hope this came out okay--I've been trying to figure out how to resolve this properly for some time now, and it hit me a couple of weeks ago when lying awake at 3 AM and trying to fall asleep. I'm in the middle of final exams now, but the worst is passed, so I'm giving myself some time off.  
Oh, and I'm REALLY sorry about the monumental delay in getting this done! But at least it's done now, though; this is the final segment of this story, and I hope you all think it was worth the wait. ^^; Maybe I'll actually get around to finishing off "Fun with Fangirls"... O:o)   
  
As always, thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you. 

* * * * *

Ren and Serril had reached a dead end. A wide river of Dark Water cut a dark and burbling swath into the already bleak and shadowed landscape enclosing them on all sides, stretching out as far as they could see to either side. It seemed impassible, and even if they had crossed it, the opposite bank and the obscured land looked remarkably similar to the grounds they'd crossed already.   
  
Ren swore under his breath, but wouldn't allow himself to panic just yet. There had to be a way out, somehow. But before he could even begin to sort out any semblance of a plan, there was a rushing sensation and the speed of the Dark Water river increased, and the Dark Dweller burst from the thick and viscous liquid, its red eyes gleaming in triumph as it surveyed its prisoners. Its prey.   
  
_"Your luck has finally run out,"_ it intoned, smug satisfaction literally oozing from its voice. _"Surrender to me now, and I shall make your end swift and—"_ It stopped to consider for a brief moment. _"Relatively painless,"_ it amended, its blood-red smile widening dangerously.   
  
Before Ren could even answer, Serril saved him the trouble. "Never!" she burst out fiercely. We'd never surrender to you, you monster! We're leaving here alive, and whole!"   
  
_"Stupid fools!"_ it returned savagely. _"What makes you think you both can leave here unharmed, or leave here at all? Your power alone is enough to strengthen my army of Dark Water for ages to come! Do not be so presumptuous as to assume I am going to let you slip from my grasp so easily! And as for the Son of Primus—"_ It shifted as to loom a bit more over Ren than over Serril, and he felt a chill run down his spine at the brutal conviction he sensed emanating from it. _"He has caused me enough damage. He shall not leave here unharmed, if I permit him to leave at all…"_ It broke off suddenly, and shifted again. _"But enough of this talk. You two are mine!"_   
  
And once again, it struck before they could even react.   
  
Or rather, before Ren could. Serril somehow had managed to move at a startling pace, seeming to half-leap, half-fly, to her right, away from Ren and the rain of Dark Water that poured down from above. There was a rock wall some distance away, but she managed to sprint there, her feet barely touching the ground, and she sprinted _up_ the wall, as if guided by some unseen and mystical force.   
  
Ren had tried to dodge, but had become completely engulfed in the choking, claustrophobic substance. He fought to move, and fought and fought, and finally freed one arm, reaching up towards—something he could sense was there but couldn't quite see. The Dark Water had taken him almost instantly—he hadn't seen what had happened to Serril.   
  
And almost without realizing it, his other hand went grabbing for the Compass still hanging around his neck.   
  
Serril, pausing to perch on the wall for a moment, like some creature of the darkness, closed her eyes and let her instincts guide her. She suddenly, for the first time in a long time, felt warm, felt able to do something other than heal the Dark Dweller's victims or keep running.   
  
Ren's hand, grasping for anything as it stayed suspended above the Dark Water, felt a rush of air, like sea air rising off the waters on a warm summer day.   
  
He felt the Compass stir—   
  
Serril leaped, fearing nothing, aiming straight for Ren's outstretched hand.   
  
And there was a burst of light, brighter than anything the Chamber of Lost Souls had seen for eons. It took them all.   
  


* * * * *

  
  
Cherni felt a surge of power from beneath her feet, from thousands upon thousands of meters below the surface of the ocean. It was raw and untrained, but it was unmistakably familiar, still, after all these years. _Lil' sis._   
  
Tula had felt the surge of raw ecomantic strength from far below as well, but she felt a very familiar presence coupled with it that made her stagger a step back. Ren.   
  
She knew it was no trick. Her senses didn't and couldn't deceive her. But what if it was a trick somehow, till? But—how could she know about—   
  
The two adversaries eyed each other warily as the thought entered both of their minds. If it was a trick…then it made victory all the more necessary, as the other was obviously a deadly adversary, with the power of mental manipulation.   
  
Tula took a deep breath and stretched out with her senses, feeling life thrum through the ocean and the air around her, and feeling that force feed back into her, rejuvenating and refreshing and asking nothing in return.   
  
Conversely, Cherni couldn't help but pull from the severe ache in her heart that had surfaced upon sensing her sister, her disdain of her surroundings, her grim determination to best the only person who could even come close to rivaling her. There was no room for error, no room for a tie. Not with all this power. Sharing wasn't an option.   
  
She felt the familiar sensation of heaviness set in on her shoulders and frame, but used it as something to push against and made herself stand upright, lifting her chin in defiance of her adversary.   
  
And as one, the two women _reached,_ and struck.   
  
The ragtag pirates of the Maelstrom scattered hastily as a fierce wind blew those who were unprepared helter-skelter, and ran for cover as the clouds directly above the Maelstrom turned dark much too quickly for the churning, building storm to be natural.   
  
Cherni was glowing a milky-white, deceptively dull color. Tula was glimmering in electric blue radiance. The wind picked up, with barrels and crates not battened down properly sliding and then tumbling headlong off the deck, hundreds of meters away into the calm oceans. Thunder rumbled, and a different sort of electricity—lightning—crackled in shades of blue and yellow and orange across the clouds and into the ocean all around the ship.   
  
The water around the Maelstrom started to churn, and waves started to form, growing higher and higher, finally splashing across the high decks of the Maelstrom. Niddler came to first as the icy waters gave him a good smack across the face—his vision was blurred, his mind disoriented—but when he sorted himself out, he still couldn't quite place what he was seeing.   
  
Ioz came to a moment later, but he understood instantly. "Oh, no," he whispered.   
  
Cherni's face was elevated, her arms raised, eyes closed, expression focused but still twisted by some internal rage fueling her onward. The wind was billowing Tula's long, dark hair out behind her. Her eyes were closed, hands to her temples, face calm but intent.   
  
The waters were raging now, and the boat was spinning slowly as the waters began to pull it along. Ioz felt the wind turn warm, then icy cold, then warm again—and his stomach clenched, a moment before he saw the spiraling towers of water cascade up from the depths towards the churning sky. Waterspout—no, two—three—   
  
Cherni's eyes flew open, and her arms suddenly came flying down. But Tula had felt the telltale prickle on her skin, felt the crackle, felt the hairs on her arms begin to stand on end—and the lightning storm fell around her, bolt after bolt of dazzling blue-white electric death dancing in a circle, crackling and sizzling and burning and missing her entirely. She stood in the eye of their storm, calm and seemingly oblivious to the painful and blinding death waiting her if she so much as stumbled by one or two steps in any direction. But between the bolts, Ioz's eyes were fixed intently on her face, on her body, and he could tell from very subtle signs she was showing through her posture or through minor quirks in her expression that it was taxing her, and that she couldn't keep this up for much longer.   
  
She called one of the waterspouts down, having it grow and bend to brush across the deck of the Maelstrom to sweep Cherni into the raging ocean all around, and then she called the other one. But the eco-witch leaped, using the strong winds given off by the aquatic tornadoes to propel herself into the air, away from the spouts entirely, and _hovered_ there.   
  
With a single sweep of her hand, the nearest spout dissolved into a deluge of rain that further soaked the already wet decks below. Tula called the winds towards the other two and built those up and sent them after her again, just as Cherni redoubled her efforts to push the ring of lightning in on Tula—   
  
The wall of the waterspout clipped Cherni and she fell, the wind pushing her down savagely, onto her arm, just as one of the bolts hit Tula's leg—went _through_ her leg—and she fell to one knee, her concentration and her strength truly wavering. Cherni staggered to her feet, clutching at her right arm, which hung limply, her face twisted in pain at the fracture or fractures the fall had incurred.   
  
Cherni and Tula lifted their heads at the same moment and exchanged a long and wordless look. Everyone watching knew that something passed between them. Cherni's straw-blonde hair was plastered to her pale forehead, her eyes were glowing bright red, and her slight form, still glowing milky white but now sagging, was still standing, although dubiously. The ends of Tula's thick head of hair were singed, a good half foot or so clearly ravaged by the lightning. The lightning had cauterized the wound, so she shed no blood, but her leg was useless. She was trembling, sweating, her bangs stuck to her skin by her perspiration. She was pale but her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were wide and a clear blue-green, and the electric energy of her powers was still crackling and shimmering around her.   
  
"What's happening?" Niddler whispered to Ioz, almost fearful of even speaking.   
  
It took Ioz a minute to find his voice. Never had he seen such a mighty display of power—the heavens and the sky and the sea were completely within their grasp, and he felt suddenly very humbled, and almost afraid to speak as well. He also had never truly realized what Tula was capable of until that moment.   
  
"The next exchange will decide who wins," he explained in a hoarse whisper, the lightning circling Tula giving his features a haunted look, and then hesitated and swallowed. "And who dies. They know that they both can't win, or work out any kind of truce. There's much more at stake here than what meets the eye."   
  
Tula, eyes still locked with Cherni's, clenched her jaw…and levered herself up, coming to stand on her left leg, ignoring the fiery dance of death circling close around her trembling and battered form.   
  
And then there was another surge of power, one that every single creature aboard the Maelstrom felt. The illusory veil of darkness that had fallen over the deck, over the combatants and the witnesses, began to dissipate as something deep below them stirred, shining a fiery warmth and light that spread fast and far. And then they actually _saw_ the light, as the waters below and around the Maelstrom took on an eerie blue glow not brought on by any phosphorescent sea creatures that lurked in the depths. And then—a silent explosion that simultaneously blinded and dazzled all as pure light exploded from the sea in all directions.   
  
As the light faded, the waters stirred again, but just in one location, fifty or so meters from the Maelstrom. They churned and spun faster and faster, forming a whirlpool whose center glowed with the same light that had just filled the sky—and then it exploded upward, a column of glowing water…and the water subsided, falling back to the sea below, but something else was hovering there in its wake.   
  
The explosion of light had dissolved more than just the darkness; it had taken the build-up of power with it, leaving the two combatants exhausted and shivering from the strain. There was no more wind or lightning to distract them or their audience, so every being on the main deck of the Maelstrom saw the two figures suspended in midair at the same moment.   
  
Despite the distance, it was instantaneous. Ioz, Tula, and Niddler recognized one just as Cherni recognized the other.   
  
Serril was floating there, her face lifted to the heavens, her eyes closed, in fierce concentration. In her arms was Ren, lying unconscious. They now were floating towards the Maelstrom, away from the now-receding whirlpool, drawing closer and closer until nobody on the deck could mistake who they were. The resemblance between Serril and Cherni was unmistakable, and of course they all recognized Ren on sight.   
  
Simultaneously, Cherni and Tula's concentration on each other shattered, and the tension mounting all around them vanished in the space of a heartbeat as the wind and the lightning dissipated. Tula finally wavered and fell to her knees, tears of simultaneous effort and pain and relief and worry sliding down her face without her realizing it. She was overwhelmed, her senses singing as she realized that the girl carrying Ren was a powerful ecomancer with an untrained, raw, almost wild gift.   
  
Ioz moved to go to his fallen comrades, but realized his ropes were holding him back, just as Niddler squawked involuntarily as he tried to do the same. The ropes dug into Ioz's cuts, and he clenched his teeth against the pain of the fibers rubbing against his wounded flesh.   
  
This simple sound and movement snapped Tula out of her awestruck stupor, and she turned towards her friends. A glint of silver out of the corner of her eye caught her attention—Ioz's sword, unattended and unnoticed by the gathered audience. She summoned a bit of wind—realizing how utterly exhausted she was—and pushed the sword towards them, lifted it, let it fall against the ropes between Ioz and Niddler, slicing through them cleanly and freeing them.   
  
The boards creaked, and all turned as Bloth rose to his feet. "What magic is this?" he hissed, standing unsteadily, in control of his senses but still a bit dazzled by the elemental display moments earlier.   
  
Ioz and Tula exchanged a startled look. "Bloth, don't—" Ioz protested feebly, but it was to no avail. Bloth had noticed Ren, like the rest of them, and he was unwounded, and much closer to the boy than they were. He advanced, wordless for once, drawing his sword.   
  
Serril's feet were touching the deck, and she was sinking to her knees, gently and almost reverently depositing Ren's unconscious form in front of her. As Bloth's form drew nearer, her head snapped up, her eyes glowing a ferocious blue-green.   
  
A sudden gust of wind threw Bloth forward and seemed to yank his sword from his hands. The wind suddenly reversed, throwing him backwards into Mantus and Konk, and shoving them precariously close to the constrictus pit…and the gate covering the mouth of the pit started to come open. And the constrictus took note, and started hissing and lunging upwards, at the prey it sensed nearby. Bloth and his cronies caught their balance, but suddenly Bloth's sword was there, hovering in midair, pointed straight at his chest. Serril jerked her head left and right slightly, and the sword moved with her, pointing at Mantus and then at Konk, before assuming its central guard.   
  
Bloth was visibly nervous, despite his best attempts to conceal it. "Well—what are you waiting for, men?" he barked after a moment's hesitation. "Finish them off!"   
  
But nobody moved. The display of power had convinced them that crossing the wills of the sorceresses before them would not be to their advantages, and Bloth knew that ordering them onward again would do no good. The constrictus was behind him, his freshly sharpened sword was just before him, and he faced the wrath of no less than two powerful ecomancers if he somehow evaded those.   
  
For the first time, he was helpless to act.   
  
Ioz, ignoring the searing pain and the blood still seeping from his wounds, helped Tula to her feet, and Niddler, nursing nothing worse than a bad headache, stepped in between them, supporting both of them as best as he could, and the three of them moved across the deck in unison. They moved slowly, but steadily, a silent entourage approaching their fallen friend, the air around them tinged with exhaustion and anxiety and uncertainty and dread.   
  
Tula dimly noticed that, as if she were attached to a rope that was slowly being drawn in by Serril, Cherni was moving towards her—sister? The resemblance was obviously there, but...   
  
And then Serril's strength finally started wavering, she started trembling as she lost control over her body as exhaustion began to set in, and the sword in the air drooped. Just a bit. But it was what Bloth was waiting for, and it was all that he needed.   
  
"No!" Cherni and Tula screamed in unison as the pirate lord lunged forward with a snarl, hand reaching for the sword's hilt.   
  
As his fingers started to close around the metal, Cherni raised her hand and viciously ripped it to the left and up in a semicircle. The sword followed, looping down and cleanly slicing through Bloth's forearm, severing it. The pirate lord howled in pain and staggered back several steps, clutching at the stump of his arm as blood came pouring out of it and spilling silently to the deck in a grotesque cascade—but he straightened and took a step towards them.   
  
Cherni was completely spent now. Her knees gave out and buckled and she collapsed, trembling feebly.   
  
Suddenly there was an explosion from below the water, where Serril and Ren had emerged several moments before. A shadowy darkness surged up and out from the icy, salty depths—and then they saw the glowing red eyes and the jagged, tear-like mouth, and they realized in unison that the Dark Dweller had risen.   
  
Serril and Cherni exchanged a fearful look, and Tula sensed something subtle pass between them.   
  
_"I do not know what you did to me, girl,"_ it raged at Serril's prone figure on the deck, _"but I will now ensure that you will never get a chance to do it again!"_   
  
It loomed, spreading higher and wider, until it seemed to fill the entire sky itself.   
  
"We have to pool our strength!" Tula breathed, more for Serril and Cherni's benefit than theirs, while forcing away the exhaustion threatening to consume her at any moment. She and Ioz and Niddler knelt by the prince and the rogue ecomancers.   
  
Serril seemed filled with a renewed determination, as did her sister—and Tula did realize that they were sisters now, from the emanations she felt and from the way they carried themselves and behaved towards each other. Ren's companion clasped her hands over his chest, over the Compass.   
  
It occurred to Ioz and Tula that they didn't have the Treasures with them—but for some reason, that didn't seem to matter as much.   
  
One by one, they placed their hands over Serril's—except for Cherni, who knelt behind her sister and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, her broken arm hanging limply at her side, and except for Ioz, who placed one hand over Tula's and the other on her back, and except for Niddler, who wrapped his wings around all of them, seeming to close their tightly-knit circle. Only a few seconds had passed, but with the Dark Dweller's immense, oppressive, _evil_ presence, it felt like hours.   
  
And then, the creature dove, and completely engulfed the Maelstrom.   
  
Concentrate, Tula was thinking, as all her other senses were completely robbed of function as the Dark Water surged around and over them. All she could feel were her hands, holding Serril's, and Ioz's arms all but holding her. She could barely even sense their presences, and was lucky to feel hers. The darkness was everywhere—it was absolute, neverending—she couldn't see, smell, move, she could barely breathe—   
  
And then something somewhere changed.   
  
There was a pale glow, but even the palest of light broke sharply through the complete dark that had encased all of them. It was feeble, but it was something for Tula to latch onto. She focused on it, pouring all her energy and her thoughts and everything she could still sense of herself into it, and felt the others do the same. And as they did, the glow grew brighter.   
  
It was the glow of the power of the Treasures of Rule.   
  
The hum was there, too, that regal ringing that heralded the immense power within those small objects, and as they listened, it grew in volume bit by bit. It sounded muffled, as if something were trying to block it from being heard.   
  
There was a spasm in the darkness, and then a silent burst—and the light and the ring were everywhere. It illuminated all of them, and unconsciously, they all leaned in closer, to feed the power more, though they still couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from.   
  
All around them, the Dark Water was churning fitfully—it didn't like this. It hadn't expected this—it had thought they didn't have any Treasures of Rule with them.   
  
_But they didn't…_   
  
The light grew sharper, more penetrating, and they all suddenly felt warmer, more alive, and were able to use their senses again. All around them, Dark Water was struggling desperately to push forward into the little orb of light surrounding them, but any time it pressed forward, it dissolved into the purplish, fizzing foam that they all recognized.   
  
_Concentrate._   
  
The light grew brighter still, blindingly bright, and their vision was overcome by this brilliant, powerful, radiant blue that overtook everything. They could sense it pulsing and surging outwards, consuming all the Dark Water it touched and transforming it to the purple foam, signifying dying Dark Water, if the substance could ever really be considered alive to begin with. They could sense it spreading across the massive deck of the Maelstrom, spreading up and down, catching all the Dark Water that had slipped into every crevice and crack of the ship and doing away with all of it.   
  
And then it spread upwards, further still, and went after the essence of the Dark Dweller.   
  
They only dimly heard its anguished, resounding scream, very faintly beyond the Treasure-ring, which was as deafening as the glow was bright. The scream went on for several moments before it halted abruptly, and everything went still.   
  
There was nothing but the light and the sound, but even those seemed to fade into the background as a sort of eerie, still silence set in. Nobody could see or hear anything, not even the blue or the ring…everything was motionless, almost lifeless, but there was something hanging in the air, something profound and powerful, some strange and strong emotion.   
  
After moments that felt like days passed…everything came back to normal. The light faded, the sound seemed to just turn off…   
  
The Dark Dweller, and every trace of evidence pointing to his visit, was gone.   
  
Ioz and Tula and Niddler cautiously lifted their heads, almost afraid to move, looking at each other, unable to formulate their thoughts into words. As one, they drew in a deep breath, feeling energy return to their weakened bodies, and looked at Ren, and realized that Serril and Cherni had vanished.   
  
What _did_ remain, though, was a jewel resting on Ren's chest. It was a pale watery blue, but the middle glowed with an internal fire that pulsated and shifted all across the spectrum.   
  
It took them a moment for it to sink in. When it did, Tula drew in a slow, shaking breath. Ioz's hand over hers tightened so hard that she feared he would break her fingers. Niddler finally was the one who voiced it.   
  
"That's—the next Treasure of Rule, isn't it?" he ventured, his voice soft and tentative.   
  
Before any of them could reply, Ren stirred. His hand groped at his chest, finding the Compass and the hands of his friends—and then it closed around the brilliant jewel.   
  
His eyes fluttered open, and he lifted the jewel slightly, so that he could see it more clearly.   
  
"Serril," he whispered.   
  
His eyes flooded with tears.   
  
With a monumental effort, Tula pulled her hand from Ioz's and shifted to help him sit up. The look on Ren's face betrayed his thoughts—he looked hollow, but his posture slumped, as if a great weight had settled over his shoulders. His jaw clenched and he squeezed his eyes shut against the tears that fell anyway as he clasped the Treasure tightly in his fist.   
  
"Ren, lad," Ioz whispered gravely, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. At that simple touch, Ren crumpled. Tula put her arms around him as he slumped against her, cradling his head against her chest, trying to exude a comforting aura.   
  
Niddler was the first to shake himself out of this awestruck reverie. He lifted his head and peered around the deck. All the pirates, Bloth included, were lying unconscious, strewn across the deck in what seemed to be a rather unnatural sleep.   
  
"Maybe we should get back to the Wraith, where it's safer," he suggested gently.   
  
Unable to think of anything to say, the others wordlessly agreed.   
  


* * * * *

  
  
A week had passed. Ren had come out of his grief-stricken shell a bit since then, and asked the others if they could return to Octopon, to which they readily agreed.   
  
Along the way, he had finally begun to open up.   
  
"She spoke to me in my dreams," he said suddenly, startling them all from the silence which had fallen upon the ship during the voyage. "She told me everything. She said she didn't have much time, and she apologized for not telling me before, but she never had been sure until she saw her sister again and the Dark Dweller came."   
  
He was sitting on a trunk on the starboard side of the ship, gazing out to sea. Ioz and Niddler, the former whose torso wounds had been bound by the latter, were manning the sails, and exchanged a look with Tula, who, with her leg out of commission until she could see a healer, was manning the helm with her injured leg propped up and in a splint to avoid putting more strain on it. The former two abandoned the ropes and pulled barrels up next to Ren.   
  
"She and her sister possessed halves of one of the Treasures of Rule," he said, confirming the others' suspicions. "They don't know how they got there, but they think that they got them when the Dark Dweller broke free from the center of the planet. And when we put the Treasures into the lighthouse, the energy that was given off woke up the pieces within each of them, or rather, it made them realize what was going on. They were rogue ecomancers—they were two of the many illegitimate daughters of Salamantha."   
  
He glanced up at Tula, who felt a chill run down her spine at his words. Her hypothesis was indeed correct, then.   
  
"Serril ended up in the Chamber of Lost Souls because she, her sister—Cherni—and their father—the three of them were on a fishing trip. The girls loved their father—he didn't abandon them after Salamantha cast them off. He stayed and raised them as best as he could under the circumstances. But their boat was the first one attacked by the Dark Water. They'd never seen anything like it before. They were all thrown overboard and Serril was pulled down, but Cherni and their father escaped. He'd been injured from the fall, and Cherni did everything she could to keep him alive, but they were pretty far out to sea, and he died not much later. She eventually found her way to shore and made a life for herself, and built up a reputation in this part of Mer as the planet's new eco-witch, and when Bloth came by a port she was in and posted notices for hiring new pirates, she offered her services. She wanted to get back at the Dark Water any way that she could, and she knew Bloth was after the Treasures. She didn't care about his reputation—she felt that the ends justified the means. She was the one that attacked you and called the wind on you, Tula. But—she apologizes; she didn't mean anything personal by it. It was just a job for her."   
  
Tula had reached a hand up to her still-sore throat, fingering it lightly at his words. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded wordlessly.   
  
"Serril—" Ren's voice caught just at her name. "She lived on the food and cargo from the ships the Dark Water brought down. She managed to go undetected because the power of the part of the Treasure inside her shielded her from the Dark Dweller, sort of like a self-defense mechanism. That is, she went undetected until she helped me." His composure faltered for a moment, but he forced himself onward. "When the Dark Dweller pulled me down—it encased me in Dark Water, and tortured me, broke so many bones in my body and mangled me so much that I thought I was going to die. But she found me, and she healed me, completely. I—I still can't explain it—"   
  
"You've developed a bond with the Treasures," Ioz pointed out gruffly. "We've all seen it. It could be that it's internalized itself to the point that they're a part of you, and the Treasure inside her gave her the power to heal you."   
  
Ren looked startled, then introspective, and he finally nodded slowly, fingering the Treasure unconsciously. He hadn't let go of it since they acquired it. "I think you're right," he said at last. "Anyway—she completely healed me, and then the Dark Dweller found us—and it called her immortal—probably because with a piece of the Treasure inside her, there was no way she could die. It would've kept her alive, maybe even healed her—and because its power is so absolute and eternal, it made sure its carrier was, too."   
  
He went on and explained everything else that happened, up until the Dark Water engulfed them and he felt Serril's hand and the power coming from her.   
  
"And then I got knocked out, and didn't feel anything until I woke up on the Maelstrom's deck," he continued soberly. "I felt these surges of power, this warmth—and that must have been her, and her tie with the Treasures."   
  
"That would explain how she was able to escape the Chamber of Lost Souls," Tula added thoughtfully, softly.   
  
He went on. "And then I heard her voice—her and her sister, but mainly her." He drew in a deep, steadying breath. "She and her sister realized that the best way for them to do anything to stop the Dark Water would be to help us. Meaning, to give us their power. And the only way they could do that was to give us the Treasure. So—they put all their energy into the power of the Treasure that they could feel, and kept making it stronger and stronger. And in the end—they sacrificed themselves. They pushed everything they could of themselves into the Treasure, making it material while they themselves vanished."   
  
He looked down at the Treasure, still pulsing warmly in his palm, and shook his head miserably. "I feel like this is my fault, like there was something I could do to stop them—" he began.   
  
"Don't," Ioz and Tula interjected sharply, then exchanged a glance. Tula let Ioz continue. "You can't blame yourself for their decision," he persisted. "If anything, they were probably right. Having one unified Treasure would do more against the Dark Water than having two people with its power divided between them. You know the old saying: a single goija will easily fall into a sea serpent's jaws, but a school will send the serpent looking for its mother's nest."   
  
Ren wasn't convinced. Tula finally abandoned the helm and limped down to join them. She knelt in front of Ren, peering imploringly into his eyes.   
  
"You cared about Serril, didn't you?" she questioned softly.   
  
He looked at her, startled and almost guilty, a flush crossing his face. "I promised her," he went on after a moment's hesitation. "I promised I wouldn't let the Dark Dweller hurt her, and that I'd take her back to Octopon, where she'd be safe." He swallowed painfully. "I never thought this would happen—"   
  
"Neither did she," Tula pointed out. "She didn't think she'd see her sister again. Cherni looked just as surprised to see her as we were to see you. We—we thought you were dead. We were sure the Dark Dweller would have killed you."   
  
"He would have," he agreed, "if she hadn't been there to save me. But—I couldn't save her—"   
  
A heavy, uncomfortable silence fell among them. Finally, Ioz stood and came forward, kneeling beside Tula. "She would want you to do what's right, and to use what she's given you to best of your ability," he pointed out. "Taking the Treasure to Octopon is the best thing you can do. It will weaken the Dark Dweller in a way that the Treasure by itself cannot—once again, the goija and the sea serpent. And it's what she would have wanted you to do."   
  
Tula lifted her head and squinted at the horizon as something caught her eye. She couldn't help but feel a pang at the shift in Ren's emotions, but the realization that he didn't care for her in that way didn't hit her nearly as hard as she thought it would.   
  
After a moment's gazing at the horizon, she stood up, and then nodded to herself. What had caught her eye was the beam of the Octopon lighthouse. They weren't far from the port at all now.   
  
"We're almost home," she informed them quietly, making her way back up to the helm.   
  
They all had seen the regret in her eyes, and watched her as she made her way to the steps. Niddler leapt up and flew to her, lifting her nimbly and setting her down by the helm.   
  
Ren gazed at her for another moment, as she glanced down at them, and at him, for a moment, before returning her attention to the sea. He then glanced up at Ioz, who was also watching the ecomancer.   
  
After another moment, Ioz finally glanced down at Ren, surprise crossing his face as he saw that the boy had been watching him. He glanced away, then at the distant gleam of the lighthouse, then back to Ren. The two exchanged a look that said more than words can say, and Ioz clapped his hand on Ren's shoulder in a brotherly manner, finally breaking the look off and going to tend to the sails.   
  
Ren looked across the ship, watching Ioz unfurl the sails and let the evening breeze guide them home, and watching Niddler change the dressing on Tula's wound. He was alone with his thoughts once again.   
  
_Ioz is right,_ he finally admitted to himself reluctantly. _She wouldn't want me to be like this. And she understands. But this is the first time I've sworn something so important but haven't been able to follow through…_   
  
He sighed, gazing out to sea as the shore began to appear in the distance as a dark line against the blue-green ocean, broken only by the constant glimmer of the lighthouse.   
  
_And she's still here._ His hand closed over the Treasure lying in his palm, but with a less desperate grasp. _And I_ am _returning her to Octopon. She deserved a better end than this, but she'd already suffered enough. This way, she'll be a part of the restoration, of the healing, of the planet. And she's with her sister again._   
  
He remembered the warmth of her powers, the feel of her body pressing against his as she exerted her powers of healing, the one kiss they shared, and the one she gave him, with her whispers of reassurance and support, just before her body completely vanished, that he hadn't told the others about.   
  
_Everything's going to be all right. That's what she herself told me, isn't it? We're alive, the Dark Dweller's lost again, we got away from the Maelstrom and the Dark Water almost unscathed, and we're one step closer to stopping the Dark Water once and for all._   
  
He stood up and stretched, and looked down at the Treasure in his hand, and for the first time in a long time, he felt a faint but genuine smile crossing his face. _We're almost home._   
  
  


Fin


End file.
